When Barack Obama won re-election in 2012, it seemed to mark the beginning of a new era of Democratic dominance, one propelled by the rise of a new generation of young, secular and nonwhite voters.
With hindsight, the 2012 election looks more like the end of an era: the final triumph of the social movements of the 1960s over the once-dominant Reagan Republicans.
Instead, it’s the three Trump elections — in 2016, 2020 and 2024 — that look as if they have the makings of a new era of politics, one defined by Donald J. Trump’s brand of conservative populism.
Thank God that moment passed.
